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liz: count down to the countdown. is it the sheer indicator as they try to flip a beachside home are barely more than she paid. february new home state are down. what is the real housing story? a fox business exclusive. shares of best buy have nearly doubled in 2013. it is buy vs sell. in super mario is back. two more new stocks to pick up your portfolio. "countdown to the closing bell" starts right now. ♪ liz: we will find any excuse to use an old cher song. you know it is the best. hi, everybody.

i am liz claman. stocks kicking into high gear, check it out. investors turn their focus back to the u.s. and away from things that they simply cannot control. what are the drivers? it is actually a mixed bag of data. first, february new home sales dropped nationwide home prices soared over the past month and frankly over the past year. best numbers we have seen in several years. what about the health of the consumers? consumer confidence tumbled. put it all together, mix it up and be more overpowered flavor of the day is bullish. we decided it is today. investors are trading at all to have good news. s&p 500 came within four points of the record closing highs. today is the question, will we finally get there? just four more points.

1565.15. everybody is moving higher. and the dow is just under session highs right now, the number to beat, 108 points. check out these dow components hitting new highs today. we have bowling, bowling, pfizer and verizon. the price settling just 1600 per ounce. let's get to the floor show and bring in the traitors at the new york stock exchange cme group and the nymex. this whole issue here. nicole petallides cousin was

just on from cyprus and she used the word chaos. she said it is positively what could happen when it comes to the banks and when they reopen. does that affect the trader sentiment on the floor? >> the obvious answer today is no. but i guess it just depends on what lens you want to look at what is going on in the euro zone, liz. from afar, it is very disturbing. basically confiscate should have private property sends her horrc resonance. i think this is a very negative effect, but the market is completely ignoring it today. liz: puts charlie, the fear is very real. it is not warming is wimpy psychology on the trading floor,

the vix is actually lower today. what do they do the same thing in italy, although no word that would actually happen. would that be the trigger that happens to affect things here? >> have the same concerns he does, so this happening in italy or france, that would give a lot more reaction to the market. we're really the only thing in town where in the world that is consistently making money and trying to go higher. looking at the market, the housing market, on a note we look yearly on the 20, on the 20 year comp, better than the numbers we have had in years past. you're also seeing the dollar

hold on very well, for money looking at stocks, in terms of buying dollars. liz: we're calling it the cher indicator. interesting to seehat is happening with all of that, think that is fascinating, but we're looking at for example the number that was pretty strong. now we have oil in the u.s., and moving up more than 8% each, $13 between the two, what do you read into that? >> is almost like it is counterintuitive in the stock market to my way of thinking because we look at the stock market and at rallies and everybody is happy about it and crude rallies. for the most part people were unhappy, so again it is like the market is the truth.

i find it a little bit confusing and i agree again, the stock market in particular, it is like everybody buying it. liz: first of all he is too cleaned up today. and he is confused. you have to love it, right? >> crude oil is telling you something, the economy is stronger than a lot of people think, and if you look at the durable goods number, the housing number, all of this rehab being done, granted a lot of it is investors coming in and buying up properties, they're also putting putting a lot of money into those properties to rehab them because of their top dollar. durable goods numbers have a lot to lean on.

liz: thank you all very much. good to see you. the billionaire investor, mario. he made the call in january, you didn't think the market would gain more than five points this year. look at you aiming for the 5%. the s&p up nearly 10%. in this fox business exclusive coming look at the roundtable, are you readjusting your 5% for the year estimate? >> let's say the argument from day one, this will be an extraordinarily exciting year to buy stocks. when we look particularly reading annual reports, we find, continue to find great ideas. these are things that stimulate the appetite and the deleveraging will continue and it could be potholes.

liz: warren buffett, you have the big battle out, a lot of the hedge fund guys, but how does the average investor participate in that kind of activity and make money off of it. can they? >> they can buy a fund, but that is a different issue. liz: no, it isn't, what is that calleded? i it is so simple, it is called "abc." the way to participate in these acquisitions after they are announced. more important, think about an agile engineering. eileen roosevelt put her arms around canterbury, put it into crack and split kraft. now there is thoughts they will take frito-lay, they will split it. those of the exciting things, this is what we like about the

market. verizon stock closed at $50 per share, 3 billion shares, 150, they own 55% of verizon wireless and they want to buy this balance. liz: i don't hear you sounding worried about cyprus at all. >> there is recovery is fragile, there will be some potholes for the market within the framework there are three things from thing about short term. they are just pumping money into the system which makes this an exciting time to pick stocks. liz: and you're picking two brand-new ones. mario does some of the other networks but you were here first to name two brand-new names. the first one involves frito-lay because it is one of their customers. >> what you have to look at is the notion of health and wellness.

how do we take sodium salt out of the diet, how do we take sugar out of the diet and yet provide those products that need the same taste. iff. there are 80 million shares, the stock is up. they will earn $7.05 years if they do nothing but cash flow to bump back to stock. liz: they have a nice run. more to go there? >> it is a tough act to follow, maybe it will push tough. liz: we will put these all up on facebook.com/lizclaman page. churchill downs of all names, why is that? >> you and i will be in omaha, some people will go to the kentucky derby.

in addition, they will offer $5 per share in several years and $15 in cash if they do nothing. there is a material improvement on their part. they bought a couple of companies in that area. it is a wild card. liz: the reason we want to listen to mario, he is a billionaire, but the last time you were here you picked gen corp. and it is up. how did you know? >> all you have to do is buy a paper and throw a dart. we have a team that does a very good research. we have a team that does this.

all i do is listen to them, sometimes intensely. liz: do you ever hang up on them? >> we have to parcel our time. for you i never do that because i have as much time as you want. liz: mario gabelli. >> all of which is 300 seconds. liz: we will take it. it could be significantly increase. >> good to be here, see you in about three weeks. liz: in omaha. >> goodbye. liz: superstar shares. -- superstar cher. she probably wishes she could turn back time to a profit on her home. she purchased the house in may of 2012, we are showing it to you right now, notice listed for $1.9 million. perhaps the store could use a

real estate reality check. next. stay tuned. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. e learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. ut even though we're livinlonger, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪

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liz: folks, have to tell you something very quickly. dow jones the thrill industrial. if you close above 14,539 it will be a new high. it's now up 103 points. the number to beat is about 108 points to the upside for the dell. okay, we got some very strong housing data today, but also superimposed over a little bit of weakness. don't miss another indicator of the housing recovery. prices rising by 45% over the past year alone. let's gets nicole on the new york stock exchange. nicole: we don't just look at the sales numbers, the prices of the homes, the numbers are going

to the homes in the consumption numbers and here's a look, a nice bar graph to indicate plywood prices are up 45% in the last year. obviously makes plywood and is in that field. they went public come you look at the chart up almost three quarters of 1%, up almost 60% over the ipo price. as other countries will have home values in home sales still deteriorating, we have a backstop and see some improvement. back to you. liz: i saw your cousin in the last hour, she is just as smart and beautiful as you are, my dear. nicole's cousin. irene, right? nicole: yes. our fathers are brothers. liz: we will be checking in estimates of banking issue gets resolved or if it doesn't, we're watching it closely.

cher is like a real state magnet flipping homes before it was cool. is she moonstruck for thinking she can flip her venice california pad? here's a real estate reality check. prices increased in january by the most since june of 2006 and new home sales better than expected but still down 4.6% month over month. so how are the homebuilders feeling? let's bring in one of them. chairman and ceo joining us in a fox business exclusive from scottsdale, arizona. cher make it only a gain of 300,000, i am sure you are crying for her. inventory is going up and sales came down slightly for new home

sales. does that worry you at all? the nationwide number can sometimes be a little off. >> it does not worry me at all, is the perfect storm for housing. supply is low, prices are rising in the south and west west, business is picking up. liz: looking at new home sales, lagging just a little bit but looking pretty good. you have looked extraordinary coming off of the lower basis. 73% over the past year. what is doing the best end in which region? >> the west and the south are very strong. liz: we can say las vegas and california and los angeles, a big run-up and a big bump. speak to northern california is extremely strong.

the inland empire and southern california picking up, phoenix very strong, prices up over 20% in this market demand is doubling, vegas as well, the texas market is doing better, and of course in florida, orlando is doing really well. pretty much all the way across our footprint we are seeing significant uptick in demand. liz: what about orlando? >> it is just a good job market. a market hit hard, a very desirable place for people to live and companies to locate two. liz: one of the top 10 homebuilders in the world. having gone through the boom and the bust, tell me right now, look at the gorgeous home you guys built, the luxury community, excellent stuff. what is the number one thing usa homebuilder learned about the

boom and the bubble popping? >> the most important metric to loolook at his housing affordability. it is at an all-time high right now. combination of low interest rates, low prices. liz: how are the credit conditions? >> people are getting credit for the move of homes in some of the luxury homes. credit is pretty good. a strong fha/va situation. credit is pretty good. people will be surprised how easy it is to buy a new home today. liz: as we finish up, what is the number one mistake you will never make going forward after what we have seen in the past five years? >> looking at affordability. liz: when it gets too low, don't invest too much? >> when housing prices get too high and they are unaffordable, that is the timeeto pull back.

liz: thank you very much. thank you. the closing bell ringing in 37 minutes. in the last half-hour, things have just begun to possibly change. according to charlie gasparino, which aside is it. he is running down here, stay tuned. investor. yeah, i'm a serious investor

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liz: breaking news. charlie is asking me to concentrate after talking about a swimming pool in vegas. is blackstone getting cold feet in the bidding war for dell? breaking news in the last half-hour or so. charlie: they have a bid for dell.

existing bid from michael dell and silverlake is $13. in any event, what we hear from people close to blackstone is their odds of carrying through with this, you name it, less than 50%. they are casting doubt on their ability to take over dell. what they are saying is let's wait for due diligence and they will have about a month of due diligence, we will see if the rubber meets the road. it is kind of interesting little thing that went on right before their bid. remember i told you blackstone has an executive working there who just left dell to work in blackstone.

it is interesting, dell has come out publicly what these reported that they think a blackstone deal is management friendly. i don't think it will blow up enrichment, it is not a hostile takeover, so to speak. one of the reasons why is because of this guy, johnson. remember, and dell had a noncompete clause at least in the next year. typically johnson can't work in a private equity deal involving dell which we understand dell released him of that clause is we issue him a waiver so he couldn't work on this deal. as a former executive working with blackstone on the deal, the management has no problem with that, the question now is does dell wants to go forward with this? take carl icahn out of it, i think it is a joke. do you really think he is going to win? no, it is a joke.

hopefully he doesn't make anything, but the reality is, it is between blackstone and silverlake and dell. they can't just throw it out of the air, they came out after stunning it -- studying it. they know this is a hard deal to pull off. liz: wyeth and that stock at that level at this time? $14.53. yesterday at $14.55 when we were arguing with each other. charlie: they say they are downplaying. liz: i said everybody hold your hand up if we have dell. we have a couple in the closet with broken hard drives, done.

>>charlie: if you're doing something like this, had to sell it for more. who knows what type of stuff you are looking at. what is your history set? liz: he is telling me about a pool that said somebody told him how good he looked for his age. charlie: she said i was in great shape, very good for my age. it made me feel good for a second, and then i realized i was old, right? it doesn't matter. doesn't matter how much lipstick you put on that big rea. liz: charlie has 28,000

followers. charlie: it is like 28,800. liz: i have 24,000 change. can you help me beat him? charlie: if you really want to know stuff. liz: we will offer something. maybe every day on my twitter feed. charlie: what i was doing, i was in the gym with my cell phone and the story broke and i was on with you and a couple of us together covering from there. i'd just gotten off the phone with jamie dimon. i had my t-shirt on, and i was, i was reporting.

liz: my eyes. charlie: you have seen worse. liz: the closing bell ringing in 26 minutes. 27 rather. the banks are closed until thursday. some of them open, even if a deal is in place. why the new plan may do more harm than good. this could affect our banks, our business, our money. almost beating the highs of the session.

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>> good afternoon. i'm sandra smith with your fox business brief. a fox business exclusive. bernie madoff claiming the big banks knew what he was up to. from prison madoff e-mails could for my first interview to the media i said that banks must have known and were complicit and contributing to my crying. although i've offer that banks trustee information that would demonstrate in detail the complicit behavior of banker jpmorgan, bank of new york, hsbc, citicorp and others, the trustee seems unwilling to act on my offer. when reached for comment, madoff trustees say madoff's credibility has no substantial value. the sec failed to comment. the federal reserve ordering citigroup to turn over reports. now we continue our countdown to

the closing bell. ♪ liz: and the coun countdown to e s&p hitting a record closing high. less than two points away right now from the record closing high. so there you have it. we are getting very close, look at this, the highs of the day basically so we will be watching this with 20 minutes left in the trading session. let's look at shares of solar city shining with a couple of other names. nicole petallides at the new york stock exchange. this one just went public. >> very interesting. watching shares jumping on some ambitious plans for the next couple of years. third-party ownership is what they're talking about. the ceo said basically an analogy between his company and cable providers, so he said

comcast is a service provider, they have big plans of energy service provider rather than a solar installer. it is interesting, is it all about the perception and all these plans they are making? very ambitious going forward. put it all together, they are seeing a really wedding day on wall street. liz: you look at him and he say these are smart guys. he doesn't want to look at just a commoditized installer. they work very hard to get that message out. thank you, nicole, very much. protests continued through the night of different groups, different ages, different places but there is one message singular here. this bailout is a rotten deal for our country, we are talking about cyprus. rich edson found himself in the

middle of one of those protests. could you call it a riot? you're on the phone, tell us what you saw earlier today. rich: it was certainly not a riot. it started with a facebook post and text in e-mails and before you knew it, there were 300 high school students emptying out in the middle of nicosia marching through the downtown area heading to parliament and essentially the ban bank of cyps in the students became the first of many protests. speak to hundreds of high school students have closed on this section of nicosia. they are protesting the bank bailout from international monetary fund, international european union. they say the conditions of the bailout will hurt their future, hurt the economic future of this country. they say they will take the short-term pain of leaving the

euro. they say they want control over their own economic future. >> they are destroying the employment, banks are going down. now they're willing to invest in cyprus, there is no going to be development forward. >> just a general sense of anger and frustration with the eu, the monetary fund, even their own government and others with thanks opening thursday, if they open thursday. back to you. liz: i would be part outside of the bank.

are you expecting long lines? you and the producer had not even slept through all of this. this is what worries me, there will be long lines at every atm, every bank, there could be problems. rich: exactly. we don't get the plan we had set for today, applying that to thursday because all but two bands were supposed to be open today, now all banks are closed so we will be their couple of hours for the banks to start opening on thursday morning and of course to the government doesn't do it before then. liz: thank you very much. we hit session highs, dow jones industrials up 110 points. checking again, less than two points away from a record high for the s&p. the closing bell, we got 60 minutes to go before it rings. we have a ratings rumble. today's target on fox business, best buy.

despite falling today, shares have nearly doubled year to date. if the turnaround just beginning to work or about to fall off a cliff? the buy vs sell battle royal coming up next.

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who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living long, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪

liz: when was the last time you walk into a best buy or when would you consider buying best buy shares? shaking things up, moving the shares higher since it began. now if you could bring back its founder and former ceo. will the old management landscape further propel the

stock trading up nearly 18% year to date or will it hurt the turnaround efforts? a rumble on the buy side, the bear side. chief equity analyst. weighing in on the bearish sell side. just going into this with everything i know about best buy, i remember the last time i went in there, why are you bullish on that? >> i like what they say in the holiday quarter, the use acceleration, they gained a little truck with the shareholder base they can cut a chunk of expenses out and that is a positive nod they can turn the business around going into the second half of the year. liz: does not want me to buy something like the samsung collected directly or the apple?

>> essentialist happened the holiday season for every customer they gained that was a customer they began to retrain. they are price competitive, not that expensive. liz: can you retrain a customer? >> i think that is where the issue comes in. it all comes down to online and inflow conversion. that is a lot more difficult to me. i don't think you can retain those. they'll have a lot of competitive countermeasures at their exposure. liz: i'm looking at this thinking if i listen to you, i have lost money. >> to get it would be a mistake

to assume management long-term goal are achievable. more realistically with the cost-cutting measures in place really think this is when you take a longer-term approach to and did not buy into the hype right now what we have seen in the last couple of months. not enough to back it right now. liz: i'm looking at this, for price target 23 or 22 and change, what do i do when it hits 23? >> the fact is you want to take long-term, price is true. they will turn this company around. one key fact. 71% of their lease will expire, they will get out and repurpose source even though amazon is very price competitive, if apple can get it down, they can live in this environment. liz: i don't know why this is a positive. why do you like him coming back

to run this company? >> this removes the overhang, any disruption in the largest shareholder, having these guys aboard to prop up a turnaround. >> the old management team brought in here, collecting $150,000 annual paycheck, best buy right now not necessarily retail story, it is a turnaround story. i like it is very execution focus. liz: what do you think? >> i think a lot of the turnaround plan is smart. i just don't think every part of it will happen. the online-off-line conversion

rate will be an uphill battle. that'll be the the hardest part of this turnaround story. liz: here is the problem that a lot of people have with best buy, you sit there and you say walking into the store is not nearly the experience of walking into an apple store. my children beg me. they just want to hang out there because the testers are not all beaten down. how different is the experience now? >> best buy is putting a lot of their money in the customer experience. if you're still selling apple products i think that it's an opportunity for best buy to gain that customer base. from a 17 year old person. liz: are they going directly to the samsung of the world or no o

nokia even. >> apple has a good job taking the product to the consumer's. samsung, microsoft are all finding ways to buy the retailers and catch that much profit on each sale. they do not need best buy's distribution outlet and will need it less going forward. i do think that is a key issue. liz: welcome, and thank you to both of you guys. we will be watching best buy. the closing bell ringing in five minutes and change, will the s&p 500 finally close above the record highs?

1565.15 is what we're looking for. we will be watching it into the close. help me beat charlie gasparino. not because of the segment we did, i am now less than 4000 away from charlie. follow me. ♪ she's still the one for you - you know it even after all these years. but your erectile dysfunction - you know,that could be a question of blood flow. cialisadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needingo go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all

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